It's a very delicate thing to discuss something like this. Perhaps a poll is not the most tactful way of doing it?

This is not though just a case of just not liking an inkers style and being bitchy about it. Nelson is redrawing the pencils of one of the most sucessful artists in the business who has a 20 year association with the character.

Now either Nelson is taking it upon himself to do this or he is being asked to do it. Either way it really is not good enough.

We pay for the book expecting to get art pencilled by Byrne and that is what we should get.

Yes Joe, call us paranoid but sometimes it really is difficult not to believe that people are out to sabotage Johns books.

I keep reading criticisms of the art in Action that blame John and make no mention of the fact that there is an Inker involved in the process, let alone that he is redrawing.

Joe Zhang wrote: Hey I don't think it's a big deal to ask for Nelson's job. The arbitrary redrawing is probably a ploy to get Byrne fired from Action.

Since we have nothing to back this up from any credible source, I think this is pretty nasty speculation to be tossing around about anyone in the business.  Sure, we can all agree that the changes in JB's artwork sucks, but there's really no need to call someone out in this manner especially with no proof whatsoever.  That kind of stuff belongs on boards other than the JBF.

What Nelson is doing is just wrong. Whether he does it himself or is being asked by the editor is irrelevent. It is just plain wrong.

The difference, I think is this: If the editor had a problem with the pencils, he should ask John to make the changes he thought necessary. If the inker spots things he feels should change, he again should report to the editor, who in turn would contact John again.

The funny part is though that in the past we would only guess at changes. No pencils gallery and no internet would probably elevate Nelson in a very high rank in the John Byrne Inkers List.

I like Nelson's inks in all the cases he doesn't redraw, btw. His style adds something new to John's art. Texture, shadows, linework are top notch. He is a far better artist than Nekros, I think, but whether he is better suited for Byrne is personal taste (Doug Hazlewood and Terry Austin put them both to shame, I think and their work is much, much more faithful to John's pencils).

As for the redraws, I don't think they really work. Especially the afore-posted images of Superman are wrong. I will give to the person taking the decision that John's pencils were somewhat weaker than usual (imo) and could use some help, but the redrawing was even worse. Soulless and anatomically incorrect.